Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-03
THE JANlTOR'S FEES.
PERQUISlTeS ROLL IN FAST ENOUGH
TO MAKE HIM RICH.

An Income Which Would Make Almost
Any Man Happy-The Flat Jxnitor sn
Autocrst Whose Vengeance 4, Not to
He Despised.
| A good authorship is well worth having
There may not he much glory in IL, but il
produces lots of money When Alderman
iTum Cleary went on the witness stand the
iOther day 10 make out the hest case he
ICOuld for himself, he said that his income
as janitor of the Equitable Life building
footed up about 5000 month, and that he
made S2i5 a month more by looking after
iOther buildings. His janitorial earnings
Therefore, came very near Sl4 900 year.
There are hundreds of hard worked law
ysrs, doctors. professors. ministers. jour
lnalists, artists and other educated brain
tolers in New York who would he glad 10
earn half of that. Indeed, third Of it
would make a good many brain workers
happy. The professional man of any call
ing who is sure of 5000 n year is on the
lucky side. OF course there are some who
make great deal more especially law
yers and doctors, but they are the few.
The many are more likely to be below the
81, 600 mark than above it, The mayor
Of New York gets a salary of $40, 600 and
Ia Judge of the United States supreme
court receives 5000. while Tom Cleary
could pick mp nearly $4,000 as a jsnitor,
EEGULAR APPURTENANCEs
But there are not many janitorships as
profitable as his-probably not another.
All the large Office buildings have janitors
a. regular appu,tenances, but the post in
the Equitable building is apparently the
best of all OFFERS are good for S6. 900
| tu ) 10. pD or Srs, 900. The actual salary
| j. not large III any case, but IT is not the
salary that counts, but the perquisites. A
man could make money. y good deal Of
money, by taking the janitOrship of a
| large office building for nothing and de
pending on the perquisites alone. All the
| tenants find il desirable To be- on ehe right
side Of the ianitor, all the help employed
| by him ditto. and every person furnishing
supplies Of any Kind or doing work of any
kind knows that he must make il all
right with the janitor or find himself
| dropped very soon.
II is in the big uptown fats, though,
that the janitor is an autocrat in earnest.
\ janitor is rs necessary in Hat aS a
porter III Il large store. There j. n great
| deal of work to be done 10 keep the place
| in order and the janitOr is there to do IT,
Most of the tenants believe he is also
there To make their lives as wretched as
possible. They probably never see the
landlord at all, and the agent only once ii
| month. when he calls for III. rent, but
| the jsnitor is always with them. Neither
| by day nor by night can they escape his
haunting presence. II is the special pc
| culiarity of the fiat janitor 10 DE always
on the make, and he finds a thousand
ways TO make this perfectly clear TO all
| who came in contact with him. II a teu-
| ant wants any little matter attended 10, he
discovers very soon that the janitor re-
CARDS il as all extra, 10 be considered only
i'll connection with spot cash. The sum
total may he only dime, or possibly a
quarter. but dimes and quarters make
dollars, and the janitor has frugal mind
THE MATTER OF SUPPLIES.
His best hold. however, is in the mat
ter Of supplies Each and all must
patronize the butcher, baker, grocer
mlkman, ice man and coal man They
are his favorites, because they understand
the spot cash principle and act Oh il. On
every order they get from the house the
janitor receives what the vulgar call
''whack." but what he prefers TO call a
commission. IL a new tenant shows any
pueriic weakness for dealing with a
butcher, baker or grocer not on the jan
itor's list, he or she finds out very soon
that il won't do. The janitor may not
say anything, but he has ways of showing
what he thinks about it that are much
more effective than words. The roast
beef ami the French rolls may bear out
ward evidence of association with ashes.